Jackson schools to add 2 more furlough days

“It’s just something that we feel like we can’t avoid doing,” he said on Thursday. “We hate to do it — basically what it amounts to is an unpaid holiday for employees. We regret that, but that is something that we’re not going to be able to avoid this year.”

Next school year, teachers will have one day trimmed from both pre-planning and post-planning.

The school system will keep two teacher pre-planning days on Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 1-2, but will make Wednesday, Aug. 3, a furlough day. The first day of school is Thursday, Aug. 4. The move essentially leaves a “gap” day between teacher pre-planning and the first day of school that week.

A post-planning day on Tuesday, May 22 will be cut, as well — leaving just one day of teacher post-planning on Monday, May 21. The last day of school is Friday, May 18.

Those who are 12-month employees in the Jackson County School System will take furlough days on July 7-8.

Adams said the decision to add more furlough days to the school system’s calendar came after the district’s state-funded Quality Basic Education (QBE) money for next school year dropped by $220,000.

That amount, however, isn’t as low as district officials initially anticipated, Adams said.

Another key revenue source — local property taxes — is further expected to drop, anywhere from five to 20 percent, according to Adams.

“We also have some real uncertainty about what the property tax digest is going to, but every indication is that it’s going to go down,” he said.

Jackson County’s tax digest is slated to be done soon — and that’s when officials will learn how much local revenue drops for governments and school systems.

Uncertain about its local tax revenue for the 2012 fiscal year — which starts on July 1 — the board of education also approved a spending resolution on Monday.

The move allows the school system to spend up to one twelfth of the district’s general fund budget each month. The spending resolution will have to be approved each month until a budget is adopted.